Crutch.



Py W. SANDERS. CRUTCH.

AFPLxcATIoN msn uic. 1s. me.

Tl 5,295,364@ atene May 8,1917.

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E@ mi UNTED STATES' 'PATENT @lblfillQEo PETERW. SANDERS, 'OE BELLEVILLE,NEW JERSEY.

CRUTCI-I.

Application filed December 19, 1916.

To all-whom t may concern:

Beit known that "I, PETER WV. SANDERS, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Belleville, county of Essex, and State of N ew Jersey,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Crutches, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved crutch that. is adjustable so thatit can be made longer or shorter in order to be used successively bydifferent people, as in hospitals, and one in which the handle can beadjusted relative to the side arms ofthe crutch, the parts that aremovable being locked when in desired position by one clamping means.

The invention further resides `in a handle that, when locked, risnot-rotatable nor slidable and is thus adapted to give the user a senseof security asin a solid crutch.

The invention is further designed to provide a crutch with a minimum ofprojecting parts and one that has sliding sections provided with slotsdisposed so that one part of each section is supported by the othersection.

The invention is designed to provide 'a simple formy of crutch, easilyadjusted by any one, secure and stable as a support for a cripple or aninjured person, andonethat.

is economically manufactured.

The invention is illustrated in the accom-y panying drawing,inwhichFigure 1 isa perspective viewof my improved crutch.-

Fig. 2 is a central .vertical section of the crutch showing that part ofthe crutch in the` vicinity of the handle. F ig. 3 is a face view of oneof the clamping plates used-in' the embodiment shown.l

The crutch proper which I call the body portion of the crutchconsists oftwomembers slidable relative to each other, onemember, the upper member,having arms'lO `and the other, or lower member, having arms 11. r1`hearms extend substantially vertical but are preferably slightly bowed, asshown, to give ample room for the handle. The upper member has a saddleor arm rest 12 secured to and-connecting the arms `10, the arms 11 ofthe lower member being formed at their lower endsv into a base. In theforml shown, the arms: are spread by the brace, then brought togethertoform a foot 14: and pro- Spec'cat-onof Letters Patent.

)Patented May 8, 1917.

serial No. 137,756.

vided with a cap or top 15, the latter usually y being constructed toguard against slipping.

slide on each other, keeping substantiallyv their proper form andcurvature when such arms are curved, the ends being held by suitableclips 16 secured to the ends of the arms 11 and sliding on the arms 10,and clips 17 fastened to the arms 10 and sliding on the arms 11. Vithoutany clamping action by the clampingmeans, these arms slide readily oneach other, their contacting faces being substantially flatA and smoothand offer noserious resistance to the easy spreading or assembling ofthese arms. In view of this easy sliding, when the members are to beadjusted, the saddle 12 can be grasped in the hands, theoperator yplacesone of his feet againstthe brace 12 and the members can be pulled apartto the desired distance, although it isl customary to adjust the crutchby the person to use it, setting the foot of the crutch on the ground,moving the arm rest until it is in proper position, and then operatingthe clamp to fasten all the parts in their proper positions. The clampalso embodies the handle 18 which is placed between the members and isprovided with a bore through which a bolt 19 passes, the bolt having onone end a head 20 and on the other end a thunib-nut 21 screwing on ascrew-threaded end 22 of thev bolt 19. The bolt also passes throughslots in the arms of the crutch, these slots being long enough toprovide a considerable variation between the extreme extended positionsand the eXtreme contracted positions of the sliding members of thecrutch. One pair of arms, in the illustration the inner pair 11, isprovided with slots 28, the outerpair being provided with slots 24, inthe illustration these slots 24 being shorter than the slots 23.Clamping plates are preferably placed on opposite sides of each pair ofsliding arms, such clamping plates 25 being provided with end 'flanges26 which embrace the sides of the arms 10 and 11, the inner faces of theclamping plates being placed against the front and rear faces of thearms and being preferably provided with gripping projections 27, thoseshown extending from side to side and being adapted to be pressedslightly into the wood of which the arms are made when the thumbnut 21is screwed up to clamp the parts together. It will thus be seen that theclamping device not only is used for adjusting the arms 10 and 11relative to each other, but is also used to fasten the handle in itsproper position. 1t will also be evident that similarly when thethumb-nut 21 is loosened, that not only is the handle free to beadjusted, but the members 1() and 11 can be slid on each other. 1n thisway the parts are compactly assembled when the crutch is ready to beused and the clamping plates grasp the sides of the arms 10 and 11 atthe slotted portions to strengthen these portions opposite the pointwhere the clamping is done, thus minimizing the chance of any splittingof these arms at these points. Furthermore, the portion provided withthe long slot is strengthened for a considerable length of its slottedportion by reason of the adjacent arm being provided with a shorterslot, so that the distance along the assembled arms between the top andbottom edges of the clamping plates 25 and the ends of the short slot,is not long enough to permit such strain on such slotted portion as willcause any breakage or splitting at that point. The sliding of the armsis limited by the ends of the slots, and with each arm slotted, none ofthe slots need be of any excessive length to permit relatively wideadjustment between the extreme length to which the crutch can beextended and the shortest length to which it can be contracted. The endsof the handle portion 18 are engaged by the inner limits of the sidearms of the crutch, in the form sho-wn, such inner limits being theinner clamping plates 25, and the pressure so disposed on the handleholds the handle against any rotation so that a iirm grip is providedfor the hands of the person using the crutch, which provides a bettersense of security than a handle that is adapted to be easily rotated orone that is subject to movement by any possible rotative strain appliedto it by the hand. The clamping plates with the side flanges 26 andgripping parts 27 are positively held in position against rotation onthe bolt 19, and the parts are thus held inapproximate alinement and inposition to be assembled, even when separated enough, after thethumb-nut 21 is unloosened, to permit the arms 10 and 11 to be slid oneach other.

The slots 23 in the inner arms 11 are usually used to provide adjustmentof the members toward and from each other, thus permitting the locationof the bolt 19 in about the center of the slots 24 so that these slottedportions are strengthened about in the center, the wide range ofmovement thus afforded to the inner arms having the slots 23 in them,providing such slotted portions with the support due to the contact withthe outer arms 10, such contact being due to the spring of the materialand also to the binding pressure induced by the clamping means mountedon the bolt 19. 1n other words, the bolt is preferably kept in thecenter of the slot 24 unless the adjustment necessary is beyond thelimits of the slots 23, and in this case, the bolt is slid in the slots24, but the fact that the inner arms 11 have been slid so that the endsof the slots 28, either the top or bottom one, engage the bolt 19,leaves but a slight distance of slotted portion in register with theslot 24 so that, with this extreme adjustment, nearly the whole lengthof the slot 23 will be backed up and supported by its contact with theunslotted portions of the outer arms 10.

rlhe limitations of the extension and contraction of the crutch, due tothe ends of the slots engaging the bolt 19, provide a maximum and aminimum of length, and these slots 23 and 24 are so disposed andproportioned that when the crutch is extended to its full length orcontracted to its shortest length, the handle 18 is in a normalposition, that is, it is in a position where a person adapted to use thecrutch, at either its shortest or longest length, will naturally havehis hand come.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A crutch comprising two members having arms adapted to slide on eachother, the arms on each side of the crutch being slotted with alinedslots, a bolt passing through the slots and having means on its ends forexerting pressure inward, a handle on the bolt between the arms on eachside, and plates, each vplate having an opening through which the boltpasses and being adapted to bear against the outer face of one of thearms and having projections to enter the arm to prevent slipping, eachplate having side flanges to engage the sides of the slotted portion ofthe arm with which said plate engages, the flanges having their engagingfaces terminating short of the arm adjacent to the one with which saidplate is in contact.

2. A crutch comprising two members having arms, the arms of one membersliding on the inner faces of the arms of the other, said arms beingnarrow and having vertical slots therein, clamping plates engaging theouter faces of the assembled pairs of arms, the

plates having end flanges to engage the parts are so forced together,the slots in the outer edges of the slotted parts of the arms, outerarms being short, the slots in the inner a handle, a headed bolt passingthrough the arms being materially longer. 1o

plates, the slots and the handle, a nut on one In testimony that I claimthe foregoing, end of the bolt for forcing the parts in bind- I heretoset my hand, this 18th day of ing engagement, said clamping plates hav-December, 1916.

ing projections to enter the arms when the PETER W. SANDERS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

